THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY FOLMER, TARTAGLIONE AND ALLOWAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of November 20, 1968 (P.L.1075, No.329),

entitled "An act providing for the growth and development of

noncommercial educational television; creating the

Pennsylvania Public Television Network Commission as an

independent commission and defining its powers and duties,"

abolishing the Pennsylvania Public Television Network

Commission; and making editorial changes.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1 of the act of November 20, 1968

(P.L.1075, No.329), referred to as the Public Television Network

System Law, is amended to read:

Section 1.  Declaration of Public Policy.--The General

Assembly hereby declares that it is in the public interest of

the Commonwealth to encourage and develop the growth of

noncommercial educational television broadcasting, including the

use of such media for instructional purposes; that the expansion

and development of noncommercial educational television

broadcasting and its programming diversity depend on freedom,

imagination and initiative; that it furthers the general welfare

to encourage such programming which will be responsive to the

interests of people throughout the Commonwealth and which will

constitute an expression of diversity and excellence; that it is

necessary and appropriate for the State government to

complement, assist and support a policy that will most

effectively make noncommercial educational television service

available to the people of the Commonwealth[; and that an

independent commission should be created to facilitate the

development of educational television broadcasting and to afford

maximum protection from extraneous interference and control].

Section 2.  Section 2 of the act, amended June 18, 1998

(P.L.682, No.87), is repealed:

[Section 2.  Creation of Commission.--(a)  There is hereby

created the Pennsylvania Public Television Network Commission,

hereinafter referred to as "commission," as an independent

commission with powers to encourage the growth and development

of noncommercial television broadcasting and programming.

(b)  The commission shall consist of the following twenty-

four members:

(1)  The Secretary of Education or the secretary's designee.

(2)  The chief telecommunications technology policy officer

of the Executive Department of the Commonwealth or the officer's

designee.

(3)  The Chairman of the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

(4)  One member appointed by each of the following from the

respective chambers:

(i)  The President pro tempore of the Senate.

(ii)  The Minority Leader of the Senate.

(iii)  The Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(iv)  The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

(5)  Two members appointed by the Governor who shall serve at

his pleasure, one of whom shall represent institutions of

private education and one of whom shall represent institutions

of public education.

(6)  Nine members appointed by the Governor, subject to the

advice and consent of a majority of the members elected to the

Senate, as follows:

(i)  One member shall be appointed from Philadelphia County.

(ii)  One member shall be appointed from Allegheny County.

(iii)  One member shall be appointed from among Bucks,

Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

(iv)  One member shall be appointed from among Armstrong,

Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson,

Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland Counties.

(v)  One member shall be appointed from among Adams,

Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon,

Perry and York Counties.

(vi)  One member shall be appointed from among Bedford,

Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk,

Fulton, Huntingdon, McKean, Mifflin, Potter and Somerset

Counties.

(vii)  One member shall be appointed from among Berks,

Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Pike Counties.

(viii)  One member shall be appointed from among Bradford,

Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour,

Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna,

Tioga, Union, Wayne and Wyoming Counties.

(ix)  One member shall be appointed from among Crawford,

Erie, Forest and Warren Counties.

(7)  Six members at large appointed by the Governor, subject

to the advice and consent of a majority of the members elected

to the Senate, from any part of the Commonwealth.

(c)  Members shall be subject to the following terms:

(1)  Each member appointed by the Governor with the advice

and consent of a majority of the members elected to the Senate

shall serve for a term of six years or until a successor has

been appointed and has qualified, but not to exceed six months

after the expiration of the member's term.

(2)  Of the nine members from specific areas of the

Commonwealth initially appointed by the Governor with the advice

and consent of a majority of the members elected to the Senate,

three shall serve for a six-year term, three shall serve for a

four-year term and three shall serve for a two-year term.

(d)  No member shall be appointed who is also a member of the

governing authority of a public television station or is

otherwise affiliated with a public television station.

(e)  Any member appointed by the Governor who fails to attend

three consecutive board meetings shall forfeit his membership on

the commission unless the chairman upon written request from the

member determines that the member should be excused from a

meeting or meetings for reasons of illness or the death of an

immediate family member.

(f)  Such commissioners shall receive no salary but shall be

reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their

official duties. The commission shall appoint such deputies,

secretaries, officers as it may deem necessary, and shall

perform all things necessary and proper, consistent with the

powers and duties imposed upon it by this act.

(g)  Such commission shall, annually, make a full report to

the Governor and the General Assembly as soon as possible after

the close of each fiscal year, and make such other reports at

such intervals as it deems necessary and advisable.]

Section 3.  Section 3 of the act is repealed:

[Section 3.  Powers and Duties of the Pennsylvania Public

Television Network Commission.--The powers and duties of the

commission shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1)  To assist, develop and support a statewide policy to

encourage the growth and development of a dynamic, free and

effective public television service;

(2)  To make grants to public television stations serving

Pennsylvania to aid in the improvement of their broadcast

operations, programming, and capital facilities;

(3)  To establish and develop and operate, on behalf of the

Commonwealth, a public television network system interconnecting

all noncommercial television stations serving Pennsylvania;

(4)  To insure the diversity of programming to allow for

freedom, imagination, objectivity and initiative on both the

State and local level and to insure that the networks shall not

be misused for political or other propaganda purposes contrary

to the Federal Constitution or the Constitution of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;

(5)  To apply for, receive and distribute Federal funds,

State funds and public or private funds from any source

whatsoever, and to serve as a coordination agency in connection

with those funds which are available through the Federal Public

Broadcasting Act of 1967 and other Federal legislation now or

hereinafter enacted;

(6)  To enter into contracts, leases and other arrangements

to own and operate interconnection and switching facilities and

equipment pertinent to a statewide network and to apply to the

Federal Communications Commission and other Federal agencies for

such licenses necessary to operate and maintain such a network;

(7)  To contract with or make plans with other agencies or

individuals to program productions and otherwise to procure

educational and public television programs for distribution to

the noncommercial educational television network;

(8)  To conduct research, demonstration and training

activities in matters relating to noncommercial educational and

public television broadcasting;

(9)  To establish and maintain a library and archives for

programs and related materials and to develop and promote public

awareness of and disseminate information concerning

noncommercial educational and public television; and

(10)  To do all things necessary and proper to effectuate the

provisions of this act which are not inconsistent with law, and

to promulgate rules and regulations relative thereto.]

Section 4.  Section 4 of the act, amended December 22, 1981

(P.L.545, No.158), is amended to read:

Section 4.  Contracts.--All contracts or purchases made by

the [commission] Office of Administration involving the

expenditure of over four thousand dollars ($4,000), except those

involving personal services or items that can only be obtained

from one source, shall be in writing, awarded on the basis of

competitive bidding and shall be made only after notice of the

proposed contract or purchase is published in at least twelve

newspapers, as the [commission] Office of Administration shall

determine will be sufficient to ensure distribution of the

notice throughout the Commonwealth, at least twenty days before

the letting of the contract or purchase.

Every contract for the construction, reconstruction,

alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of public works

shall comply with the provisions of the act of March 3, 1978

(P.L.6, No.3), known as the "Steel Products Procurement Act."

Section 5.  Section 4.1 of the act, added June 18, 1998

(P.L.682, No.87), is amended to read:

Section 4.1.  Public Television Broadcasting Advisory

Council.--There is hereby created [and placed within the

commission] a Public Television Broadcasting Advisory Council,

whose members shall consist of the highest-ranking, full-time

professional employee from each of the public television station

licensees serving this Commonwealth or his designee. The council

shall elect from among its members a chairman and vice chairman.

[The chairman or his designee shall serve as an ad hoc,

nonvoting representative to the commission.] The members of the

council shall meet from time to time as they deem necessary but

shall receive no compensation for their service.

Section 6.  The Pennsylvania Public Television Network

Commission is abolished.

Section 7.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.